According to Sports Hochi, Seung-Hwan Oh could be more interested in returning to the Samsung Lions (KBO) after the 2015 season than heading to the Majors. Source: Sports Hochi 12/4/2014

The Tigers are close to finalizing new contracts with Mauro Gomez (30) and Matt Murton (33). Source: Sanspo 12/4/2014

Takahiro Norimoto (23) turned down a three-year offer worth about 360 million yen from the Rakuten Eagles for a one-year deal at an estimated 120 million yen. Norimoto is not interested in the Majors at this point in time. His long-term goal is to become the best pitcher in the NPB. Source: Chunichi Sports 12/4/2014, Nikkan Sports 12/4/2014 ... Norimoto joined Yoshinobu Takahashi (2000, 110 million), Daisuke Matsuzaka (2001, 100 million), Micheal Nakamura (2007, 158 million yen), and Tomoyuki Sugano (2015, 110 million) as the only players in NPB history to reach 100 million yen in their third year. Source: Sanspo 12/4/2014

Nippon Ham's Sho Nakata (25) agreed to contract worth 200 million yen in 2015 on Wednesday and became the first position player out of high school in franchise history to reach 200 million in his eighth year. Source: Daily Sports 12/4/2014, Sanspo 12/4/2014

Yamato (left side) played in a Ni-gun rehab game on Sunday against Orix. He got the start in center and batted second. He went 1-for-3. The Tigers are planning to make a decision on Yamato after he plays in at least one more rehab game. Source: Sponichi 8/17/2014

Hiroshima Carp

Ryuhei Matsuyama (left knee) played in a Ni-gun rehab practice game against Tsuneishi (Industrial League) on Saturday. He started the game in right and batted fifth. He went 1-for-4 with a home run and one RBI. He will most likely play in a few more rehab games in right field and at first before the Carp consider him for the active roster. Source: Daily Sports 8/17/2014

Nippon Ham Fighters

Sho Nakata tweaked his left knee while running the bases in the top of the 10th inning of Saturday's game against the Seibu Lions. He was removed from the game in the bottom half of the inning as a precaution. Source: Nikkan Sports 8/17/2014

1st round draft pick Daichi Osera took a batted ball off his left calf during the 4th inning of Monday's game against Yokohama. He left the game after six full innings because the calf was beginning to tighten up. Source: Nikkan Sports 7/15/2014 ... Osera told reporters on Tuesday he felt better than he thought he would. Source: Nikkan Sports 7/15/2014

Chunichi Dragons

Yohei Oshima (right side) returned to practices on Tuesday. He did not play catch or take batting practice in the cages. He did field some grounders, work on his bunts, and hit some soft-toss batting practice. Source: Nikkan Sports 7/15/2014

Hector Luna was supposed to get an MRI for his right elbow, but turned it down because the machine made him uncomfortable (it was too small, it hurt his shoulder). Luna wants for focus on treatment for the pain and inflammation so he can return to the active roster in ten days. Head coach Shigekazu Mori told reporters doctors could not find any inflammation in his x-rays. They decided to take Luna off the active roster because they had no solid leads on how long it might take for him to recover. Source: Sports Hochi 7/15/2014

Chiba Lotte Marines

1st round draft pick Ayumu Ishikawa's start was cut short on Monday because of a cramp near the base of his right thumb. He experienced a similar cramp last year during the Industrial League Championships. Source: Sports Hochi 7/15/2014

Nippon Ham Fighters

Haruki Nishikawa hurt his right middle finger while returning to second base on a pick-off attempt in the 4th inning of Tuesday's game against Seibu. He was removed from the game on defense in the 5th. Source: Sponichi 7/15/2014 ... Nishikawa was taken to a hospital and diagnosed with a sprain in the PIP joint of his right middle finger. He is considered day-to-day. Source: Nikkan Sports 7/15/2014

Sho Nakata was left out of the starting line-up on Tuesday against Seibu because of left knee pain. He was hit by a pitch on the knee during a game against Lotte on the 6th. He has had problems with the knee since and was told by doctors to rest it. Source: Sports Hochi 7/15/2014 ... Nakata did make it into the game as a pinch-hitter in the 9th on Tuesday and flied out to right. Source: Nikkan Sports 7/15/2014

Hector Luna will be taken off the active roster on Tuesday with tightness in his right elbow. Motonobu Tanshige told reporters the decision was made because they do not expect him to be ready to play right away. Source: Sponichi 7/14/2014, Nikkan Sports 7/14/2014

Yohei Oshima did not play in Monday's game against Hanshin because of pain in his side. He is considered day-to-day. Source: Nikkan Sports 7/14/2014

Yakult Swallows

Wladimir Balentien's left Achilles tendon is still only at about seventy-five percent. Source: Sponichi 7/14/2014

Seibu Lions

The Lions are planning to add Hideto Asamura (left knee) to the active roster on Tuesday. Source: Sanspo 7/14/2014

Chiba Lotte Marines

Craig Brazell took an HBP off the right side of his head during Monday's game against Softbank. It took him a while, but he was ultimately able to walk off the field on his own power. He was taken to a hospital in Chiba for an evaluation. No abnormalities were found, other than a bruise. He is considered day-to-day. Source: Sponichi 7/13/2014 ... Jason Standridge threw the pitch and was visibly concerned about his former teammate.

1st round draft pick Ayumu Ishikawa left Monday's game against Softbank after seven innings because he developed a cramp in his right thumb while throwing practice pitches before the start of the 8th inning (he had a hard time straightening the thumb out). Source: Sponichi 7/14/2014, Nikkan Sports 7/14/2014

Katsuya Kakunaka was taken off the active roster on Monday with lower back pain. The Marines have not yet set a timetable for his return. Source: Sponichi 7/14/2014

Nippon Ham Fighters

Sho Nakata was replaced by a pinch-runner in Sunday's game against Softbank because of concerns with his left knee. Nakata has been used as a designated hitter ever since he took an HBP off the knee during a game against Lotte on the 6th. The knee had to be drained because the swelling was not going away. He is a question mark for Tuesday's game against Seibu. Source: Sponichi 7/14/2014

Leslie Anderson had to be removed from Tuesday's game against the Yakult Swallows after he hurt the back of his right thigh while running to first on a grounder to third in the 7th inning. The Giants will wait to see how Anderson if feeling on Wednesday before making any decisions on what to do next. Source: Nikkan Sports 5/13/2014

Hanshin Tigers

Tsuyoshi Nishioka worked out at the Naruohama training facilities on Tuesday for the first time since his collision with Kosuke Fukudome. His workouts included jogging, light dashes, playing catch at a distance between thirty to fifty meters, and indoor batting practice. Source: Sanspo 5/13/2014, Nikkan Sports 5/13/2014

Chunichi Dragons

Kazuhiro Wada was left out of the starting line-up on Tuesday because of tightness in his back. It was the second game he missed in row. He was able to resume batting practice. Source: Nikkan Sports 5/13/2014

Yakult Swallows

Shingo Kawabata got a shot to relieve some of the pain in his lower back. He was left out of the starting line-up again on Tuesday, but did make it into the game as a pinch-hitter. Source: Sponichi 5/13/2014

Chiba Lotte Marines

Tomoya Satozaki had surgery on his left knee at a hospital in Funabashi, Chiba on Monday. He will require about a month for full recovery. Source: Sponichi 5/13/2014

Nippon Ham Fighters

Sho Nakata has not been feeling well. He did not join the rest of the team for practices on Monday and instead did his own workouts. He has been the designated hitter the last seven games to reduce the strain on his body. If his condition does not improve, there is a chance he might not make the starting line-up for home games when the Inter-league season begins. Source: Nikkan Sports 5/13/2014

Shogo Yagi met his parents on Tuesday and finally got around to giving them the game ball from his first victory on August 1, 2013. Yagi met them during fall camp last year, but forgot to bring the ball with him.

Ten pitchers tossed bullpen sessions on Monday. Umpires called balls and strikes for all the pitchers except Shohei Otani. The coaches asked the umpires to skip Otani because they did not want him getting distracted by each call.

The opening day pitcher will most likely be Mitsuo Yoshikawa. The coaches were thinking of Yoshikawa early on, but did not want to make any assumptions about his condition until they had a chance to see him pitch. He tossed thirty-three pitches in the bullpen on Monday. Hideki Kuriyama was not necessarily impressed with the outing, but was pleased to see him heading in the right direction.

Former Yakult Shinya Miyamoto visited Nago camp on Monday. He checked on Sho Nakata during his visit. He feels Nakata should be fine with his conversion to third because he has a strong and accurate arm.

The Fighters announced that they are giving twenty-three-year-old pitcher Hua-Wei Lo a tryout during spring camp. Lo is a left-handed university student. He was on the roster for Taiwan that played three games against Samurai Japan in November last year.

Kuriyama checked on the 2013 draft class at Ni-gun camp today. 3rd round draft pick Hiromi Oka and 7th round draft pick Ryosuke Kishisato are registered as position players, but Kuriyama may give them a chance to toss bullpen sessions during spring camp (they both have experience as pitchers).

Of the fifty-nine pitches Shohei Otani threw in the bullpen on Saturday, twenty went for strikes. Pitching coach Kazuyuki Atsuzawa was not impressed with the session and apparently found a problem with Otani's arm action (when he was cocking his arm back). Specifics were not mentioned, but it was not something he had a problem with last year.

Atsuzawa had Otani stay back after general practices to work on his delivery by doing some shadow pitching with a towel.

Sho Nakata stayed back after general practices for extra batting practice on Saturday. He took 107 swings (ninety-one toward left and sixteen toward right) during soft-toss batting practice and hit fifty-four over the fence (forty-one toward left and thirteen toward right), including ten out of the stadium (eight toward left and two toward right).

Makoto Kaneko is twenty-0ne games away from joining Yukio Tanaka (2,238 games), Isao Harimoto (2,136), and Shoichi Busujima (2,056) as the only players in franchise history to play in at least 2,000 games. Kaneko is also eight sac hits away from reaching the 300 milestone.

Luis Mendoza is trying to learn some Japanese through various methods like actively trying to communicate with teammates. He also likes to listen to music and is planning to listen to various idol groups. He is also feeling a connection with the Okinawan dialect, in particular with the word menso-re, which means welcome (irasshaimase) and has a similar inflection to Mendoza.

Mendonza is planning to toss a bullpen session (all fastballs) on the 6th.

Sho Nakata did not hit any over the fence during batting practice on Saturday, but he stayed back after general workouts and hit more than thirty over the fence during soft-toss batting practice. He also took some fielding practice at third.

Hideki Kuriyama is thinking about giving Shohei Otani regular starts on Sundays this season. Since games are usually scheduled during the weekends during spring camp and in March, it would allow Otani to get into a nice rhythm before the start of the regular season. Once the season begins, he would get the added benefit of the Monday off-days immediately after his starts, which should fit better with his position player schedule.

Luis Mendoza arrived in Japan from Mexico (with a stopover in Dallas) on Thursday. According to Sponichi, Mendoza cut his hair before coming to Japan and may not be thinking about getting another trim while he is here.

4th round draft pick Hirotoshi Takanashi tossed fifty pitches in the bullpen at Kamagaya on Wednesday. He had problems with his control and was a bit nervous because Yu Darvish and Yuki Saito were using the mounds on either side of him.